Would Team Rocket be successful is they stopped following Ash?

[Skylands]

I was thinking, other members of Team Rocket get away with committing crime, so why can't Jessie and James? (Other than the fact that they're fools)

Even though they're disguises are horrible, they somehow always mange to bag the Pokemon they're trying to steal pretty easily. It's just the battle and get-away that mess them up. Sure, their ride is slow and they don't have an invisible airship but that never seems to be the reason they fail.

They would be successful if they stopped following Ash. As much call Ash and friends dumb for never recognizing them, the people are so gullible it's scary. Officer Jenny is also useless, I doubt she could stop the duo without civilian help.

Look back at their plans before Ash and friends show up, just off the top of my head:

Sleepless in Pre-Battle! - They got away with selling fake Lunar Wings for weeks, didn't anyone question why these guys have something so rare in such high quantities?

Gymbaliar! - "Loose a gym battle, oh don't worry, just leave your Poekmon here and we'll train them."
The Pokemon World is a con artist's paradise.

 

[Erika]

HEY.
Their disguises ARE NOT HORRIBLE.

James makes a beautiful woman.


...as for the actual question itself, I would have to say no. Given something is always bound to get in the way, regardless if it's Ash's fault or not.

 

[Phyro Phantom]

Well, that's certainly a matter for debate. Jessie James and Meowth do seem to get overly obsessed with involving Ash in their thefts for some reason, and their unwillingness to give up on Pikachu or leave Ash & co alone does seem to deride from their success. On the other hand, as you said, they do seem to mess things up at the critical moment. It would be hard to say whether or not they'd fair better if they gave up on Ash, though it seems to me that they keep running into him whether they like it or not. In certain episodes, a few of the "scam" ones for instance, they get scared when Ash falls for it too because they know he'll somehow end up ruining it for them in the end. xD To be specific, I remember seeing an episode about Phione in the recent Galactic Battle series, where Team Rocket was doing a scam where they got all these people to pay them for a sub ride (they apparently rented the sub without necessarily intending to repay the fee if the scam didn't work) to see Phione when they knew that they probably wouldn't see one... When Ash came up to buy a ticket they creeped out. Haha... So I dunno. It would be interesting if they went off to another region or something so we could see how it turned out. Seeing as how the Anime writers seem to use them mainly for comic relief and filler plots, though, I doubt they ever will.

Personally I think they'd definitely fair better, since they'd be able to concentrate more and not get distracted with "onoz it's the Twerps!" or "mustgetPikachumustgetPikachu!!!" But that's just me.

 

[Lars The Turtwig]

Strangely enough, the pokemon become mega overpowered when they appear.
A small pikachu cant beat a carnivine with one thunderbolt!
Turtwig can beat omanyte with a single razor leaf, but thats still because of the type advantage.

I believe they will- other trainers dont have godly assistance from the author of the story..

 

[Skylands]

I mean, it's very clear that Ash and Co. are the only real force that stopping Team Rocket from actually being successful. When not trying to deal with Ash and Co., Team Rocket has shown themselves to be really good at completing their plans.

Jessie is good in contests, James seems great in battles, and Meowth could make loads of money with translating Pokemon to English. However, if Team Rocket did give up chasing Ash and Pikachu, then they would leave the show and I'm positive all of us would miss them, no matter how lame there shemes were in the past, you have to admit they were a big part of the show.

 

[shadow_lugia]

Well that depends on whether they got a new job or not :P

 

[Loco Mocho]

I'm all for the three to do something right but honstley, do we want the anime to jump the shark... AGAIN?!?!?

 

[KlutzyKaytix33]

Probably.
A trainer that hasn't heard of Team Rocket before could easily fall for one of their tricks, and they have the stregnth to defeat a novice trainer, at the least, from what I've seen.

 

[Nanashii]

I honestly think Team Rocket has overstayed they're welcome.

They just don't do anything anymore. I was praying that the disbanding episode would stop the whole team rocket shenanigans. But no, it had to continue.
I wouldn't mind if they where just like, trying to be good guys but utterly failing. Kinda like the Prism Rangers from "Disgaea".

Oh well...

 

[Valerunner]

I mean, it's very clear that Ash and Co. are the only real force that stopping Team Rocket from actually being successful. When not trying to deal with Ash and Co., Team Rocket has shown themselves to be really good at completing their plans.

Jessie is good in contests, James seems great in battles, and Meowth could make loads of money with translating Pokemon to English. However, if Team Rocket did give up chasing Ash and Pikachu, then they would leave the show and I'm positive all of us would miss them, no matter how lame there shemes were in the past, you have to admit they were a big part of the show.

Exactly.

Plus as Skylands said, their scams aren't half bad. A good idea would be if the team disbanded but still be on the show as cameos, with Jessie becoming a Coordinator and both becoming a battle duo and as you've said, Meowth working as a translator on the side.

 

[FireMario]

Yes and they really should disband.

 

[ultraviolet]

no, because then they wouldn't be in the anime and I really like TR. :c